South Yorkshire Cricket League begins

Houghton Main is the only club in the South Yorkshire Cricket League Championship to have played both games so far this season.

Last week they bowled out Darfield cheaply but then suffered a seam bowler on top form (Syed Abid Hassan) whose 7-19 dismissed them for 48.

This week, facing Rotherham Town, they battled harder - Simon Ward (55) and Michael Brown sharing an opening partnership of 76, before the middle order crumbled.

Aitizaz Khan took five, as seven wickets fell for 19 runs, but a second crucial partnership frustrated Rotherham. Yousaf Rehman and Imran Khan put on a further 40 runs to take Houghton to 136 all out. That proved a really useful score in the conditions as Imran Khan emphasised when it was his turn to bowl. His figures of 11-5-10-6 settled the game for Houghton and Rotherham Town, despite a staunch rearguard action by captain Irfan Mirza (25*) and Abid Younas, were bowled out for 92. No other Championship game was played.

In Division One, they managed two games, at Barnsley and Wickersley.

Philip Howell took 6-20 for Barnsley Woolley Miners to bowl Thorncliffe out for 102, before the experience of Steve Nuttall (44*) made light of the conditions to guide Barnsley to an eight-wicket win.

And at Wickersley, the home club, with Adam Whitford taking 5-31, held Norton Woodseats to 145-7 in a 35 over game, Daniel Turner (59*) and James Eyre (45) setting a competitive total, but Nathan Taylor, opening the batting for Wickersley, went one better and his 66* took them safely through to 146-5 in 31.